By Richy Harrod, We are Outdoorsman Podcast
Filming and producing a television show can take you to some amazing places. I've been fortunate enough to fish for Kokanee in multiple lakes in 5 states and British Columbia, Canada. Each lake we visited had unique aspects about water depth and temperature, fish species, surrounding scenery, and even some less than desirable boat launches.
The one constant was that the techniques and tackle we have used in the past, consistently put fish in the boat no matter where we traveled. Here I'll share how we setup our rods, what terminal tackle works well, how to find fish, and tips for trolling with your boat.
Fishing Rod and Line
I'm fortunate that one of my best friends and fishing partners is Bob Loomis, who spent most of his career designing fishing rods and lures. In the past three years, we formed a partnership to release our own line of purpose-built fishing rods branded as The Northwest Outdoorsmen Rod Series. The first rod we built was specific for trolling for Kokanee and trout.
Kokanee have soft mouths and can easily come unhooked with too much pressure applied to the mainline.
This pressure can come from how one fights the fish but primarily how the rod acts as a shock absorber. An ultralight, super sensitive carbon fiber rod, such as our 8' 6" Kokanee/trout Trolling Ultralight Rod, has a slow action with a parabolic rod bend throughout its entire length helping prevent fishing loss. The carbon fiber helps detect even the slightest of bites but is strong enough to play bigger fish.
We spool our reels with 20 lb. braided line with a 30-foot top shot of monofilament. The braided line has a small diameter which cuts the water better leading to less belly in the line when trolling off a downrigger. Line belly leads to immediate slack in the line when released from the downrigger clip and a chance for Kokanee to come unhooked. The top shot of monofilament adds some stretch to the mainline and has low visibility for finicky fish.
Kokanee can be caught jigging, casting, or trolling. Most people troll for Kokanee because you can cover more water and find schooling fish. Using downriggers allows fishing at controlled depths which is important as Kokanee will move up and down the water column throughout the day.
Lead weights can also be used for targeting fish at controlled depths especially when used with a line counter reel. Numerous online charts will show the depth of gear with different weights and trolling speeds. We find a combination of both rods on downriggers and rods rigged with lead weights is a good strategy as Kokanee often prefer one method over another. This is likely due to the different lure actions of these methods.
Terminal Tackle
There are many types of lures and attractors on the market that will catch Kokanee. Lures include squidders, spinners, plugs, spoons, wiggle bills, beaded products, various plastics, bugs, and bucktails. Many lures are brightly colored and high UV. I personally use Mack's Lure products because I like the
Smile Blade and the wide variety of colors and styles of lures. Mack's Lure gear consistently puts fish in the boat!
A close second would be the UV Glo Burst/UV Chartreuse
Smile Blade Kokanee Hoochie. These two lures with a
Double D Dodger are always part of my starting lineup when I start fishing for the day. Hot orange works particularly well before the sun comes up or on cloudy days. Switching to various pinks after the sun comes up has been successful in the past.
We pre-tie all our lures with a barrel swivel prior to going out on the water so that we can quickly change lures depending on the bite. I like to have multiple lengths of leaders from as short as 8" up to about 12". A shorter leader creates more movement and sometimes Kokanee are tough biters so added movement helps.
Adding a
Sling Blade, which can be bent slightly to create even more movement, can help get tough biting fish to finally hit a lure. Another option is to switch to a
Pee Wee Wiggle Hoochie. The lure has a plastic bill that gives a crank-style movement. When using this lure, switch your attractor to
Flash Lites and lengthen the leader on the
Wiggle Hoochie to 24-30" so that you achieve maximum movement of the lure.
Baits and Scents
Kokanee can be caught on cured shoepeg corn, maggots, or shrimp. Most people use cured shoepeg corn infused with a variety of scents. The curing process is straightforward. The key is to remove water from the corn and firm up the kernels with a cure such as Pro-Cure Baitscents Wizard Kokanee Killer Korn Magic. Once the corn is cured, add various scented oils or sauces and dyes for colored attraction.
Once the bait has been placed on your hooks, add gels which are sticky and full of scent. I prefer to put a small amount of gel on hook eyes rather than on
Smile Blades or dodgers. I've had great success with Pro-Cure Carp Spit Oil and Super Gel or Mack's Lure
Kokanee Magic SBF Pro Gel.
Finding Fish
Electronics may be the most important item in your boat. As mentioned previously, Kokanee are schooling fish that move up and down the water column following food. Success will happen when you place fishing lures and attractors in the place where fish are found. It doesn't do much good to set up gear to a control depth if you don't know what depth the fish are located!
Fish are typically located near the surface in the early morning prior to the sun hitting the water. Marking fish on a fish finder is difficult when they are near the surface. Long setbacks up to 150 feet may be required to target these surface feeding fish. The long setback is necessary to find fish that tend to move away from the boat path. Side planers can also be a good tool for surface fish.
As soon as the sun hits the water in the morning, Kokanee tend be found deeper as food also moves away from the surface. A fish finder is key in helping locate fish which may be located along shelves, off points, narrows, or on the breaks from shallow to deeper water. Troll over these likely locations making schools of fish with a GPS. If you get bit, turn around and go through the school again.
Trolling Tips
Trolling speed can be the difference between catching fish or not. Kokanee typically like speeds between 1.1 and 1.5 mph depending on the time of year (i.e. water temperature). Determining the best speed is found through trial and error but trolling in slow S turns helps find the correct speed quickly. Turning your boat left or right while trolling will speed up outside rods and slow down inside rods. If the faster rods are consistently getting bit, then speed up the troll speed. The same is true for inside rods; slow down if they consistently are getting bit.
Another technique to get fish to bite is to take your boat out of gear especially as it moves through a school of Kokanee. Fish that don't want to bite can sometimes be coaxed to bite by fluttering the tackle and then speeding back up to trolling speed again. We've tried everything to get them little buggers to bite!
Kokanee fishing is an activity that is perfect for the entire family or a group of friends. These fish can often be relatively easy to catch compared to other species and limits are generous. The meat from Kokanee is deep red or orange and absolutely delicious! Try some of these techniques this spring and put some tasty fish on your table.
